Drug calculations for nurses

October 20, 2008

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Nurses’ poor maths is putting patients’ lives at risk, a Government report has revealed. A new study carried out in Lothian hospitals reveals “widespread confusion” in the nursing sector over how to calculate correct dosage of powerful intravenous drugs.

Tutors observed 40 nurses in voluntary remedial numeracy workshops at Edinburgh’s Western General and Royal Infirmary and at St John’s Hospital in Livingston. They found they had difficulty converting doses from larger to smaller units, adapting doses using fractions or multiplication, calculating flow rates, and applying patients’ weight to adjust dosages.

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